BJP leader and Supreme Court lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay moved a plea in SC to direct the Election Commission of India to nullify the election if maximum number of votes polled is for NOTA and hold fresh elections. ECI can do so using its plenary power under Article 324 of the Constitution of India. And also to restrict the candidates who participated in that election from contesting fresh.
Advocate Ashwini also pleaded that the court to direct Centre to take apposite steps to invalidate election and hold afresh. He also said that the political parties select their contenders without even consulting the electors and that is the reason many a times they are totally disconnected.
He further adds in the plea that “Right to rejection” will put a check on corruption, criminalization, casteism, communalism, linguism, regionalism which are the menaces of democracy and due to that the parties will be forced to give tickets only to honest and patriotic people.
Upadhyay urged the court that Good Governance is the motive behind the right to reject which cannot be achieved without nullifying such elections with maximum votes to NOTA. He also said that the Centre shall implement the suggestions of the Venkatchaliah Commission and Law Commission of India on decriminalizing politics and increasing political awareness and introduce provisions to ensure transparency. The option of the right to reject was also pinned by the Law Commission of India’s 170th report in 1999.
